A Break in Time
by GeneralNerdType
Summary: Harry is running through Hogwarts during the final battle when he is cornered. Finding himself in a predicament, you can only imagine his surprise when the Marauders of the past are the ones ending up saving him! Read as Harry is able to meet the father figures in a happier time, finally able to catch a break. Or so it seems. AU. R&R pretty please!
1. Chapter 1

I ran down the narrow, crumbling hallway-barely dodging the multitude of Death Eater and student bodies now littering the ground. At this point, my ability to tell the difference between the two was sadly deteriorating. We had lost many numbers, in some ways because of how the younger students were not exactly masters in dueling, but also because of the tense feel of fear found in the halls coming from the idea that the Dark Lord himself was present on the grounds.  
I grit my teeth at the thought of that pale bastard. Because of him, more than one hundred students were now gone from this world, never to return to see any of their friends or family. The many faces of the deceased that I knew flew by in front of my eyes-Sirius, Fred, Colin. This man-no, this hollowed shell of a man could not be allowed to rule this world, he could only bring death and destruction. Not only to muggles and mudbloods. No, like anything contaminated with evil such as he and his empire, even his group will eventually begin to rot from the inside out, crumbling into a large chaotic group of idiots.  
I suppose that you could say that the reason I didn't see the curse coming was because I was preoccupied with my thoughts of the future with Voldemort in the leading role. Or perhaps because I had been a bit preoccupied from the idea that I would have to die to bring this evil wizard down.  
As it happens, I had just turned the corner when I realized too late that I hadn't even paused to look before continuing to run-a rookie mistake. Without the preexisting knowledge of whether or not the coast was clear for me to continue on my quick journey down to the ground floor, I cringed doubly as I felt the dark blue curse hit me in the chest and slam me back into the somehow still existent wall behind me.  
I felt my breath leave my lungs as I collided with the dense stone creating the barrier between me and the fight happening between the dark and light on the other side. I prepared to hit the ground, only to find that I was fixed to the wall with a kind of stone shackle system, four encircling both my wrists and ankles. I quickly looked up to see who it was that had managed to fasten me down, only to feel my face subconsciously pull back in a snarl at the sight of the woman in front of me.  
Bellatrix Lestrange stood there, her features twisted into a look of pure delight at the scene in front of her. Of course, what could be better than capturing her master's greatest enemy? Nothing, at least according to her messed up set of values.  
"Ickle bitty Potter, looks like you weren't able to wiggle yourself out of this one, were you?" She cackled, the combination of that tone of voice and her hair making her look quite deranged.  
"Oh, I thought that I might as well be caught, perhaps let your self esteem rise a bit before I crush it again when I escape. Like I always do, you rat faced bitch." I spat out, letting my words distract her from my non too subtle movements with my left hand. Begging to any deity that may be in the sky to let me suddenly gain the ability to do wandless magic, I continued to try to summon my now discarded wand.  
Unfortunately, I have never had the luck of any of those unknown deities liking me, and it seemed as though they haven't suddenly decided to change their minds and begin to help me out. My eyes snapped back up from the ground to look at Bellatrix's face when I felt my hair being pulled backwards, causing for head to hit the wall in a rather forceful way.  
She was breathing heavily, her hot and heavy breath hitting my face along with the disgusting odor of Death Eater. She bared her teeth before grinding out a threat.  
"I said I thought that I might have a bit of fun before I take you to the Dark Lord. Don't worry, there'll be just enough of you left over for him to torture you."  
I rolled my eyes, pretending to be not the least bit impressed. "Well, at least there's that. Wouldn't want for me to be without the ability to feel his Cruciatus Curse, right?"  
Instead of answering, she snarled before prodding her wand against my abdomen. My brow wrinkled as I looked down curiously. What, is she going to poke me to death?  
Seeing my confused expression, she smirked as she spoke. "I learned this one from my Lord himself."  
She kept the wand pressed against my ripped shirt as she slowly began twisting the wand to the right, muttering words in a crazed, quiet voice.  
Pain flared through my side as the feeling of a knife that was embedded in my body began to work its way to my nerve system. The twisting only made the burning worse, replicating the effect of the blade spinning around inside of my stomach. Of course, there wasn't any physical mark made, allowing for the person performing the spell to have the ability to continue torturing without the oh so horrible risk of their subject passing away from blood loss.  
I merely set my mouth in a thin line, not allowing any noise to escape my mouth as she continued. I couldn't giver her the satisfaction of having the ability to make me squirm.  
Noticing my rather less than satisfactory reaction, Bellatrix narrowed her eyes before stepping back, letting the wand fall from my stomach. Without meaning to, I let out a large breath as I my body relaxed, and began panting with the effort of keeping myself from screaming from the pain.  
"I see. Mere physical pain is not enough to make you subordinate. Perhaps some mental torture then? Would you like to see your cowardly parents' death again Harry? See they're lifeless faces?"  
I glared at her as she continued break into peals of crazed laughter, an unhealthy glint in her eyes. I struggled quietly against my restrains, my muscles beginning to feel exhausted from the strain of hanging forward from the wall.  
Walking up, she grabbed my face roughly, digging her long, sharp nails into my skin. I felt blood begin to seep from the small wounds as she began chanting, old Latin words mixing with those from the more recent English language.  
As the spell began to draw to a close, I could feel every cut and bruise on my body as a warm feeling began spreading throughout my limbs. The warmth began a rhythmic pulsing, each thump making the small lacerations littering my body burn worse.  
Suddenly, as she finished the rambling speech, I noticed her eyes widen. She stepped back, eyes focused on my body. Confused, I looked down to notice a large, ghostly hand grabbing my left wrist.  
I felt myself somehow slipping through the cuffs as the ghostly hand continued to pull, and blew the now screaming witch an air kiss as I fell forward toward the ground. Instead of hitting the stone floor, however, I sank through it, straight into a land filled with darkness to the eye and hushed voices reaching his ears from far away.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey fellow unicorns, hope you enjoy the chapter, and review with either compliments or flames, whichever you think fits the story best!

Have a great day filled with no homework and fanfiction!

Sincerely,

GeneralNerdType

P.S.- I don't own HP, despite how much I wish I do.

* * *

He heard the voices before my vision even thought about coming back into existence. The first to become apparent to me was a deep, male voice that seemed to echo against the invisible walls in my head.

"Who do you think he is, Prongs?" The voice asked, curiosity more evident than the concern that should rightfully be there. Harry didn't even notice the nickname used, my mind was too busy trying to figure out what position he was in exactly.

A second voice answered, this one slightly higher and more energetic. "Not sure, Padfoot. Maybe a first year who accidentally fell in?"  
Fell in? Fell in where? My brain was desperately trying to make sense of the snippets of conversation it was hearing, the words being spoken not at all matching the scene it last remembered.

Harry opened my mouth a bit and moaned quietly, hoping to goad them into giving me more clues about where he was-and more importantly, who he was with. They seemed intent on speaking farther away than where he could actually discern their words, though, because the sound coming from the people were now just an annoying buzz filling my ears.

Harry gathered as much energy as he could, putting it all into the action of making a louder noise. When the sound tried to escape fro my mouth, however, it grated against the inside of my throat, and instead of actually speaking the English language, he broke out into a wild coughing fit.

Slowly, as the coughing began to recede, my vision began to work its way back into existence. Hazy faces floated above me, their features still unknown as he squinted, trying to get a better picture of them.

Their features began to become more evident within a few seconds, and I saw that a look of concern was etched unto their faces. As their faces finally came into full view, however, I gasped.

In front of him was a teenage version of both his deceased father and godfather. Where the hell was he? Who had grabbed him? Obviously not his family, they seemed as confused as he did... He closed his eyes slightly, trying to figure the answer to that question out.

He was in some kind of torture, mind trick thing... Maybe the hand was an illusion to make Harry think he was actually safe. Maybe these uncharacteristically young and happy looking relatives of his were here to just remind him of what the war had stricken him of.

As his thoughts crossed the picture of his father and Sirius, his eyes snapped open to find both of the boys staring straight at him, wary expressions evident on their faces.

His father tried to step towards him, to do what, he didn't know. Scooting away as fast as he could, he ran his hands quickly around him on the dirty ground, searching for his wand. Perhaps they had given it to him to make the show even more entertaining to watch?

Unfortunately, at least to him, the familiar piece of wood was no where in sight, obviously still lying on the floor where it had been before. Knowing now that he was pretty much defenseless, he stood quickly, realizing that he stood a much better chance of not getting beat to death while he was upright and not lying on the ground like a dead fish.

He changed his stance so that if they chose to attack him suddenly, he wouldn't be put off balanced.  
Looking up, he realized that the two Marauders seemed to shocked into their original positions. Knowing that this was probably just some set up to make him think that they were actually going to help him, he quickly began whispering.

"You bitch, bring me back now! You know your master would not be satisfied if I was delusional while he tried to prove me wrong about whether the light will win the war or not." He continued like this for a long while, spouting insulting phrases every two seconds despite the fact that he was actually trying to persuade someone to do something for him.

"Merlin, this guy is bonkers James." A hushed voice said, obviously trying not to provoke the seemingly crazy teenager standing before them.

Harry looked at them, sadness showing through his supposed mask of hatred, "I need to see Dumbledore. Now."

He said this in a snappish voice, not looking forward to having to see the face of his dead professor. He had realized, however, that if he was in a different dimension of some kind, that despite the possible threat coming from trying to speak with the most powerful wizard present, Dumbledore was his best choice to get back.

Besides, now that he had the time to think about it logically, he might not even be where Bellatrix meant for him to land, she had seemed rather royally cheesed off when she realized something was going away from the original plan she had.

Yes, yes, this was the best way to go about this. He just wished that the slightly happier version he had thought up was the real version, and that he was not just deluding himself with the idea of being able to escape.

Sirius looked angry at the prospect, "And how do we know you're not a Death Eater, trying to guilt us into taking you straight to the person you could be aiming to kill?"

James nodded, and Harry sighed. Of course they had to make this even more difficult.

Thinking quickly, he spoke, "Look, as of the moment, I am without a wand, and do you think that a Death Eater-even a Death Eater with a plan-would not bring his wand along? You can pat me down, I'm not lying."

He then raised his arms comically above his head, his eyebrows lifted in a way that portrayed the message: 'Well, what are you waiting for?' James and Sirius seemed to have a silent argument before Sirius hung his head in defeat and moved to check him for a wand, looking rather disgruntled.

Waiting patiently (for once), as he did so, he spoke to James over Sirius's shoulder, "So, good day, isn't it?"


	3. Chapter 3

Hey fellow unicorns, hope you like the chapter, not my fave, but that's all right! Thanks for the follows and favorites, and keep on adding me to both of those lists, new readers!

Anyhoo, review! Positive, negative, neutral... Whatever! This author on't really care!

Alrighty, I'll let you read my story about HP, which I don't own *cough* disclaimer *cough*.

Have a day filled with rootbeer and orcas!

Sincerely,

GeneralNerdType

* * *

Harry stared longingly at the complete, whole version of Hogwarts in front of him, remembering the days when he saw it like this-before the final battle.

However, when James pushed the grand entrance doors open impatiently, he froze, seemingly unwilling to continue down the hallway.

Sirius, who had been walking behind him to make sure he didn't make a dash for it, crashed into him. "What the hell are you doing, standing there like a complete doofus? Move! Keep walking!"

Harry didn't respond, images of bodies lying lifeless on the floor passing before his eyes. He was not refusing to move. No, not refusing-he was unable to. The horror of the events in his dimension could not possibly let him live happily for more than one moment.

He was, however, broken from his reverie when Sirius pushed him irritatedly, effictively making him fall forward and inside. Harry shook his head, dispelling the depressing scenes from his mind. Looking up, he made to continue through the building, only to be stopped short at the expression his father wore.

James stood there, a look of confusion crossing his face, before a hint of concern began to form. As it turns out, Harry was not the only one who had seen the fleeting emotion, because Sirius began to move forward to give what Harry could only imagine as a reprimand about caring for the "enemy".

They whispered fervently, Sirius looking surprised and slightly betrayed as James seemed to continue to explain his look. James, of course, won the argument, effectively making Sirius huff and whisper one last thing before moving back to grab Harry by the shoulder and push him forward.

Harry, who had been standing awkwardly up until that point, stumbled forward and followed James. Whispers continued to eminate from Sirius, oddly enough talking about how James was-for some reason-supporting a Death Eater because of some sign of depression, or whatever.

He had to repress a grin at that. Only Sirius could take the idea of a Death Eater with depression and make it into a way to mutter. Shaking his head, he continued to follow James, the steady and continuus sound of his shoes hitting the stone floor the only thing making its way into his head as he allowed himself to wallow in the few years he knew the older Sirius.

He was so deep in his mind that he didn't even notice when they had reached the stone gargoyle, much less notice that the password now was the same one he had last known for the office to have in his dimension. He did, however, come to attention when the loud grating sound of stone against stone filled the narrow hall as the figure began to spin and create the familiar staircase.

Harry continued to follow James up the stairs, his mind now reeling at the idea of meeting Dumbledore again. When they reached the top of the stairs, James continued through the door without another thought, but Harry needed the extra comfort from a deep breath before he even thought about entering the familiar room.

The thought of Sirius shoving him forward again made him step towards the open doorway, he did not need to add another bruise to his long list of injuries at the moment. Injuries... He had been so preoccupied with the idea of being in another dimension that he hadn't even given the constant throb a second thought. But now that his mind was focusing on it, every cut seemed to hurt ten times worse, and each bruise seemed more evident on his pale figure.

The pain of these battle wounds now at the front of his mind, he continued into the room, the idea of seeing the familiar bearded face making his footsteps even heavier than they already were. James's voice filtered through to Harry's brain as he finally stepped behind one of the large globes found at the back of the office.

He looked up slowly, his heart breaking once again into small pieces as the glint of those half-moon shaped glasses met his eyes.

"Hey professor, it's wonderful to see you again." The sentence was not said seethingly or threatingingly, as Sirius had suspected. No, the greeting was laced with what seemed like years of suffering and grief, intermixed with deep sadness. Evident there as well, was a large amount of respect and love, this emotion coming to the front as both the Marauders realized that they had misjudged the boy from the beginning. There was no way that this sad teenager was a Death Eater. If he was, he would have seemed angry or vengeful, but neither of those feelings were portrayed from him at all.

Dumbledore tipped his head to the side in response. "My boy, I'm sorry to say that I don't believe I've met you before. Though, I must say, you share a great likeness with young James here in appearance."

At these words, both Sirius and James spun to examine the uncomfortable teen. Sirius's eyes widened in surprise. Beneath the grime and scrapes, the blighter actually did look quite a lot like Prongs. His face was shaped the same, except for the nose, which was a little shorter. His eyes were also shaped the same, like almonds, but the color of the irises was quite different. While James had hazel eyes, the boy in front of him had bright green eyes, rivaling those belonging to James's supposed true love.

Along with the fact that the stranger was also a lot shorter, he was much skinnier as well-his ribs showing through his shirt quite a bit. Now that Sirius thought about it, this only further showed that Harry couldn't be a Death Eater-Voldemort would never allow for one of his servants to look like this.

Harry shifted uneasily under the gazes, obviously uncomfortable, but also almost seemed to be somewhat used to the attention, and used to the idea of not liking said attention. Instead of facing the curious looks he was most likely getting, he turned to speak with Dumbledore again.

"Sir, I really do need your assistance. Please trust me enough to hear me out. I seem to have to come here from somewhere else, and I really need to get back!" Harry's voice became desperate at the end of his sentence.  
James spoke up now. "What's so important that you need to find a way back so soon?"

Harry looked at him, "My friends, they're in trouble. We... Well, we were in the middle of a battle when I got cornered. The bloody idiot of a witch trying to hex me sent me here by accident. For all I know, Voldemort could be torturing them at this exact moment. I need to get back and finish the job."

Dumbledore gazed at him, seemingly confused. "How on earth were you in a battle at your age? Who are you, and what job do you seem to think that you have that's related to Voldemort?"

Harry began to answer, "My name's Harry, sir. Harry P-". He was interrupted by someone barging into the room, the door hitting the wall loudly.

The adult version of Snape stormed in, "What on earth do you think you were doing by getting yourself sent here, you idiotic boy?!"

Harry spluttered, "S-Snape? B-But how? You... You died!" Snape shook his head, glaring at the injured boy in front of him.

"Do you realize how long it took me to locate you in the timeline? You're lucky that I saw what Bellatrix had done. Otherwise, you would be a lost cause."

Snape effectively ignored the surprised look he was getting from Harry, instead focusing on the unfortunately familiar faces of the teenage idiots in front of him.

"Snivellus?"


	4. Chapter 4

Alright guys, here is the horrible excuse about why this is so late- business? Alright, there is no excuse... Maybe this chapter will make up for it though? Hope so! Have a great day filled with owls and Boston terriers! Love, GeneralNerdType - No response was given to the incredulous outburst other than a condescending glare that made the two teenage boys practically wither in their shoes. Seeing the Potter and Black back down, Snape smirked before turning to Harry looking him over quickly, checking for injuries. "You driveling little idiot, how in the bloody hell did you manage to both send yourself to this time and this place?" He bit out frustratedly, getting a preeminent headache at the thought of how much work it would be to fix this problem. Luckily, Potter had actually managed to not suffer any major injuries other than the ones sustained in the fight before and those that were the outcome of the inevitable fall that came along with the spell. "Now, before you open your mouth and start babbling off words incessantly, let me explain. Bellatrix managed to hit you with a spell that is supposed to put you in an imaginary reliving of your worst fears and regrets. Of course, you being you, the spell had less than the desired effect. Instead of sending you into a world of nightmares that were all in your head, you managed to send yourself into a legitimate time period. One that can actually affect the future." Snape spoke as he moved to stand, and step back. Harry decided that this laps in speech was an unspoken invite to voice his questions. "But, how are you even alive to begin with? Last time I saw you, you were snake food! No offense..." Harry's face grew red as he realized what he said and prepared for the incoming explosion called an Angry Snape. Surprisingly, Snape didn't go off. Instead, he answered rationally. "Really, Potter? You doubt my talent so much that you wouldn't think that I would be prepared for an event like that? No, it was a very simple concoction that I had had ready for weeks before that. Anything else your annoyingly curious mind is wondering?" "Is-Is there a way to get back, and soon? Hermione and Ron and everyone must be in danger! I never got the chance to officially stop Voldemort!" Harry's tone turned from that of a calm one to a very deranged version of it. Now it was Snape's turn to be flabbergasted. With wide eyes, Snape answered with another question, "Wait, Potter, how much time has passed since you've gotten here?" James timidly spoke up from the back of the room. "Only a half hour at the most, although he did manage to be a right pain in the arse despite how short the amount of time." Harry tried his best to ignore that statement. He knew that it wasn't coming from James to Harry in one of father to son, but it still hurt. No one likes it when your parent calls you a nuisance. Shaking his head, Harry answered a little more briskly than most likely necessary. "We had only been in Dumbledore's office for about ten minutes when you got here... Why?" Snape cleared his throat before answering quietly, as if to soften the blow. "Potter, it had been almost a year before I was able to locate you in the timeline... You've been gone a lot longer than you think." Harry let his jaw drop open in surprise at this. He had never even thought of that... "Wait, how is everyone then? Are they in hiding from Voldemort?" He asked, desperate for answers to the questions that were currently making his mind reel. Sirius murmured to James, "Who isn't in hiding at this point?" Dumbledore looked at them a little disappointedly, "My boys, I do not think you quite understand the situation. Harry has been ripped from his home and brought here rather violently. The least the both of you could do is leave the room, and tell no one of what has been discussed. I will call you back to my office later to discuss this privately." Sirius and James nodded reluctantly before leaving through the door and heading back down to the Gryffindor common room. No one says no to Dumbledore, that's just how it works. Harry, however, was still staring at Snape, waiting for an answer. Snape finally answered, "Potter, it is to my great misfortune to inform you that Weasley is missing after a raid that the Order issued against Malfoy Manor. No one has seen him for a little over a month. As for Granger, she is believed to currently be in one of the prison camps that was set up to house the mudbloods. No contact has been made with her since a little after you disappeared. The rest are scattered in different areas, all of them just trying to get by." Potter took a few minutes to register the information that he had just learned. He finally asked one last question, "What of the Order, are they still together?" Snape shook his head minutely, "No, they disbanded almost immediately after Weasley was lost in action, many of the parents and elders deemed the different missions too dangerous to even want to try to do." Dumbledore decided that he should butt in and ask a couple of inquisitions. "I'm very sorry to disrupt this reunion, but due to the security of this school, I must ask where you are from and what exactly you are doing here. However, answer wisely, otherwise I will be forced to personally escort you off the premises straight into the hands of the ministry." Harry smiled slightly, "Seems as though you will grow more cunning as you age professor, a lot more clever when it comes to how you question others. Now, about that explanation-" And Harry delved into the story of the war, and how Bellatrix the Bitch had managed to get him here. 


End file.
